Nashville flood lawsuit dismissal is sought by federal government

Ryman Hospitality, others say damage result of negligence

Feb. 14, 2013

Corp of Engineer workers inspect areas around Old Hickory Dam on Sunday, May 2, 2010. More flooding was expected as floodwaters rose all around Middle Tennessee. / Larry McCormack / File / The Tennessean

Written by

Alex Hubbard

The Tennessean

The U.S. government asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit alleging its agencies were negligent during the 2010 flood.

Gaylord Entertainment Co. (now Ryman Hospitality Properties), A.O. Smith Corp. and several other companies, plus Nashville attorney Phillip North, filed a suit against the federal government, contending that the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service acted with negligence and failed to communicate properly when the decision was made on May 1-2, 2010, to release water from the Old Hickory Dam during the flood.

The flooding left 26 people dead, including 11 in Nashville, and caused an estimated $2 billion worth of damage after 17 inches of rain fell over two days. Ryman Hospitalities alone suffered $250 million in damage to the Grand Ole Opry House and its hotel and convention center after floodwaters topped levees surrounding the property. The hotel was evacuated and closed for several months for renovations.

U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell heard a motion Wednesday that the plaintiffs’ cases should be dismissed because the federal government is immune under a federal flood-control law and the parties failed to exhaust all administrative options before turning to the courts for relief. It is not known when a decision on the dismissal will come.

The government’s chief argument for dismissal holds that the Old Hickory Dam is part of a flood-control system and the resulting flood came from a rare weather event.

“The damages here resulted from floods of historic proportions,” said Stephen Handler, a Justice Department lawyer. He cited a provision of the Flood Control Act that allows immunity for the federal government in cases where property is damaged as a result of floods that impact flood-control systems built by the federal government.

The purpose of the dam’s creation was for navigation, not flood control, said attorney Robert Patterson, who represents A.O. Smith and Ryman Hospitality. The plaintiffs presented a dam manual that stated that Old Hickory’s flood-control capacity was limited, meaning the government could not claim immunity.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs say that the Corps failed to obey policies set forth in the manual calling for the dam’s reservoir to be lowered to a certain point before large storms, which it was not, and the water should have been released at a slower rate after the storm.

The government replied that the manual is not so specific, and that large amounts of discretion were needed during the flooding.

“That’s like saying how much discretion is needed in having to brake for a stop sign,” Patterson said. “That’s not the kind of discretion we’re talking about.”

Patterson said the Corps failed to produce accurate estimates of the worsening flood because the agency’s computer system on the morning of May 2 failed to account for the rain that was forecast that day. “They had a garbage in, garbage out problem,” he said.

Ryman Hospitality owns Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and the Grand Ole Opry, including the Grand Ole Opry House. The hotel and the Opry House were damaged in the flood. A.O. Smith’s factory and warehouse in Ashland City also received damage.

North, who was a candidate for state Senate in 2012, had damage to his Madison home and property.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Alex Hubbard is with Seigenthaler News Service-MTSU. He can be reached at alexhubbard7@gmail.com.